Flagler Joins Attack On Rappers, 'Deep Throat'

BUNNELL — Flagler County's grand jury on Wednesday declared several recordings and videos obscene, opening the way for State Attorney John Tanner to continue the attack on sexually explicit materials.

The panel's findings mark the second time this week that a grand jury has declared adult materials obscene and harmful to children.

Among the materials deemed obscene in Flagler were the albums As Nasty As They Wanna Be and Luke Skyywalker, The 2 Live Crew, both by the rap group 2 Live Crew; The Iceberg by Ice-T; and Eazy-Duz-It by Eazy-E.

The same four recordings were found obscene by the grand jury in Volusia County on Monday. The 2 Live Crew recordings also were cited in Putnam County last month.

Also cited in Flagler were the X-rated videos Good Enough To Eat, Deep Throat II, Teen-age Hustlers and Hot and Heavy.

Tanner said this week that he also intends to present adult materials for review soon by the St. Johns County grand jury.

Video store owners in Volusia have been meeting to discuss how to respond to Tanner's campaign. They say Tanner is violating First Amendment rights, and they are planning rallies to take their message to the public.

Tanner's investigators picked up the videos and recordings in Volusia after receiving citizen complaint forms that Tanner had made available to churches and civic groups several months ago.

Flagler's grand jury, in language similar to that found in the Volusia jury's document, decided that the recordings and videos describe sexual acts in explicit detail, are ''patently offensive'' and are ''harmful to minors.''

A grand jury is empowered to comment on but not legally determine a community's standards, said Daytona Beach attorney Dan Warren, a former Volusia state attorney. Those standards must be set in an open courtroom by a regular jury, which would hear both sides of a pornography debate, he said.

Grand juries can indict merchants for selling obscene materials, but none of them in Tanner's 7th judicial circuit have done so. They have just given their opinions on materials, Warren said.

He accused Tanner of using intimidation tactics against stores that carry adult materials.

''He's using the grand jury to scare the daylights out of the merchants,'' Warren said. ''It is the worst type of witch hunt.''